American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
After the pain of a broken heart, some people reach for self-help books to feel better. Not composer Hector Berlioz. Instead, he became obsessed with novels about...pirates. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear his "Corsaire Overture", a piece inspired by Berlioz's fascination with pirates.
Jean Sibelius' final symphony unfolds in a single riveting movement; one unbroken weightless flow of music. It evolves from a quiet opening, to a warm, life-affirming ending -- a full 25 minutes later. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Sibelius' Symphony No. 7 from a concert in Bergen, Norway.
Sergei Taneyev's Symphony No. 4 is a great piece of Romantic Russian music, and it's not played nearly often enough. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra play it in concert in Rotterdam.
Jonathan Biss believes that Robert Schumann is the most poetic of all composers, because of his effortless ability to create intensely emotional music. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear Biss play Schumann's heart-piercing Forest Scenes in concert in Schenectady.
Because of Robert Schumann's ability to create intensely beautiful, emotional music, Jonathan Biss believes that is the most poetic of all composers. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear Biss play an example of Schumann's musical poetry; his heart-piercing Forest Scenes.
On Thursday's Performance Today, Janine Jansen teams up with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra for a performance of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1.
Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. Then, one of our listeners calls in and tries to guess two things: the tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Play along with our weekly musical game, on Wednesday's Performance Today.
The story of Don Juan taps a deep territory in the human psyche: love, betrayal, excess, and death. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Richard Strauss's explosive tone poem based on the story of Don Juan.
The Sphinx Competition is an annual event for young African American and Latino string players. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll speak to the winner and hear performance highlights from this past weekend's competition in Detroit.
